Japanese Quarantine Agreed Upon

Quarantine protocols will be enacted to enable Japanese horses to compete in the 2007 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races.

Extensive negotiations between the Hong Kong Jockey Club; the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department; the Japan Racing Association; and Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries concluded positively after more than one month of dialogue. The result is that Japanese contenders for the Dec. 9 Turf World Championships will be subject to a 14-day period of pre-export quarantine, with testing for equine influenza to be completed in Japan prior to departure to Hong Kong.

The quarantine facility will be set up at Hanshin Racecourse near Osaka, with no reported EI cases within a radius of 10 kilometers around the track to be certified by MAFF. Shipment of the Japanese runners will be canceled if cases of EI are reported within the radius during the period in quarantine. The HKJC will inspect the Hanshin facility while the horses are in quarantine.

The agreement, however, will not permit runners--local or international--from the Nov. 25 Japan Cup (Jpn-I) to participate in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races because there will be insufficient time to complete the pre-export quarantine in Japan and then travel to Hong Kong.